


For Science

by Lil_leels



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F, Fluff, One Shot, Science nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28866174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_leels/pseuds/Lil_leels
Summary: Maura kisses Jane for science.
Relationships: Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli
Comments: 23
Kudos: 162





	For Science

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JRose_00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JRose_00/gifts).



> A birthday gift for my dear beta Jenna! Happy birthday Jenna! All my love! <3

The Rizzoli’s were not a quiet bunch. Everywhere they went was followed by a cacophony of sound. In the beginning, it had unnerved Maura how one or two people could make so much noise. Now Maura merely rolled her eyes in affection at the ruckus the Rizzoli men were making walking into her kitchen.

‘Ow!’ Tommy says flinching as Frankie socks him in the arm, ‘Maura! You have to help us settle a bet!’

‘No she doesn’t!’ Frankie says quickly, ‘leave her outta this Tommy.’

‘You’re just afraid you’re going to lose,’ Tommy says sticking his tongue out at his older brother.

‘I am not,’ Frankie says, a light blush covering his cheeks.

‘Then let her answer the question,’ Tommy says his voice taunting. ‘She can always say no,’ Tommy adds flashing Maura a smile.

‘Ack,’ Frankie says throwing up his arms in defeat before grabbing a beer from Maura’s fridge. The argument, appearing to be settled, Maura sets down the knife she was using to chop vegetables. Maura gives the men before her her full attention. Frankie refuses to meet her eyes, his cheeks now completely rosy.

Maura looks at Tommy. ‘Yes?’ she asks expectantly.

Tommy shuffles his feet, scuffing his toe on the tile, his cheeks tinted a light pink. ‘We were just…’ Tommy clears his throat and then says in a rush, ‘wondering-which-Rizzoli-has-the-best-kissing-technique?’

‘Oh, was that all?’ Maura asks picking up her knife again. The men make some garbled noises of agreement, ‘well I am hardly qualified to settle that bet. I hardly know every Rizzoli much less have kissed them.’

‘Mmmm nope!’ Frankie says taking a long drag of his beer, ‘we do not want to know about kissing our father, nope.’ 

‘Well,’ Maura says with a chuckle, ‘you did ask about kissing the Rizzoli’s. I have a rather dismal sample size.’

‘We meant the younger Rizzoli’s Maura,’ Tommy says with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, ‘but hey if you need more samples, I’d be happy to provide them.’

‘Nope,’ Frankie says again, hooking his arm in his brothers to drag him backwards from the kitchen. ‘Think again, Romeo,’ Frankie says, Tommy’s laughter following them out.

Maura chuckles as she finishes chopping her vegetables and despite knowing that the men had been teasing, Maura’s brain can’t help but to begin formulating an experiment to determine the best kisser. She supposed the testing portion was relatively simple. She merely needed the replicate a kiss with other Rizzoli’s that mimicked the conditions of her kisses with Frankie and Tommy. Which was to say, her participant couldn’t know the purpose of the kiss. That was simple enough. She also needed to ensure the kiss was on the lips and for a comparable amount of time as her kisses with Frankie and Tommy had been. Maura hadn’t timed either of those, which was unfortunate, but she could estimate that both kisses lasted somewhere between 5 and 10 seconds. Tommy’s had lasted slightly longer, only because she had an active attraction to the man at the time.

Maura moved in the kitchen easily, preparing dinner without much thought, her mind lost on the problem before her. The question was one of technique which meant it had to be qualitative rathe than quantitative. That wasn’t especially ideal. Maura would have preferred quantitative data. Perhaps she could quantify certain aspects. Like lip softness. Maura sighed, she wished she could go back and measure the change in her dopamine levels during both kisses. That data would have been helpful. Maura supposed, since this wasn’t going to be a published article, she could estimate based on how she felt which kisses elevated her dopamine levels the most.

That left only the question of participants. Tommy had said the younger Rizzoli’s, which eliminated several potential participants. Maura also assumed, based on the nature of her study, that it should not include children. So participants should be somewhere between the ages of 18 and 50. Maura drew up a mental image of the Rizzoli family tree. Besides Tommy and Frankie, that left 7 additional possible participants. Of those, 4 were married. Maura wasn’t certain but she thought, given the blind nature of the study, she probably should not include them in the study. 2 of the 7 lived in New York and were excluded based on the difficulty of acquiring her data points. Which just left Jane. Jane was in the target age range, she was not currently engaged romantically, and she was easily accessible. Maura let her mind continue constructing the perfect testing scenario as she worked.

Given that neither of her kisses with Tommy nor Frankie were under the guise of a date, Maura didn’t think she would have a problem creating a scenario in which to test Jane. She just needed to find Jane alone for a few minutes. That was certainly doable. Now all Maura needed was a hypothesis. Which younger Rizzoli did Maura _think_ had the best kissing technique? Maura would guess Jane. Of course, Maura reasoned, she might be biased as Jane was her best friend. She would simply have to make note of that in the studies findings. After all, no study was perfect. Researcher errors and bias were inevitable. Maura simply needed to ensure that she annotated them where possible. With that settled, Maura smiled and finished making dinner.

_Later That Evening_

Maura watched as Jane washed the dishes. Jane was talking to Maura happily about the game, her features animated. Her amber eyes shone bright with excitement, the dark curls of her hair moved as she spoke. Jane flung water with every exaggerated movement and her dimples were on full display. Jane had stopped scrubbing to look at Maura while pantomiming hitting with a bat. Maura grins at her best friend.

‘So then I’m yelli-‘ Jane is saying.

‘Jane,’ Maura asks touching Jane’s forearm lightly.

Jane stops talking, ‘yeah, what’s up Maur?’

‘Do you trust me?’ Maura asks, stepping in to Jane’s body space, their fronts almost touching.

‘Of course I do,’ Jane says with an easy smile that belays her fullest confidence.

Maura smiles readily back, her eyelashes fluttering. She’s unexpectedly nervous. She knew Jane would understand. This was for science, after all. Jane of all people would understand Maura’s need to do this for science. ‘For science,’ Maura murmurs before her lips meet Jane’s.

There’s a small squeak from Jane and Maura almost pulls back, thinking it is in protest, but then Jane is pulling her closer. Her lips are moving against Maura and Maura forgets that she’s supposed to be timing this. When Jane’s tongue swipes teasingly at Maura’s lips, Maura gasps, her whole body set ablaze. Jane takes immediate advantage of Maura’s gasp, her tongue sweeping in and Maura is utterly grateful for it. She moans softly even as her heart speeds up. Then Jane is pulling away. Maura refuses to let her arms fall, refuses to open her eyes. That kiss could not be over. She didn’t want it to be over.

‘Wow,’ Jane says her gravelled voice higher in pitch, sounded wobbly and breathy. Maura knew exactly what Jane meant. Maura lowers her heated face to Jane’s collarbone, hiding herself in the comfort of Jane’s arms. Instinctively, Jane’s hands begin rubbing her back. That was not the outcome she was expecting. Except it was. Jane had confirmed her hypothesis. Jane was absolutely, hands down, the best Rizzoli kisser. Jane clears her throat, ‘you okay there Maur?’

Maura doesn’t know how to respond. That kiss had been electrifying. Maura nods her head, following it immediately by shaking her head, which was followed by a hollow chuckle. Jane’s arms never let go, her hands never stop moving.

‘Uh, Maur?’ Jane says, sounding worried, ‘seriously, are you alright?’

Maura takes a steadying breath before looking up at Jane. There’s fondness in Jane’s eyes. The same adoration she had seen on her friend’s face a thousand times. ‘I am alright,’ Maura says. Her voice is breathy, her hands are shaking. Who knew science could have such a profound impact on her biological systems. Maura, probably should have.

‘You, uh,’ Jane begins. She clears her throat again, ‘you just said 'for science' and kissed me?’

‘I did,’ Maura affirms.

‘Care to elaborate how kissing me is for science?’ Jane asks carefully.

’Frankie and Tommy asked me who the best Rizzoli kisser was,’ Maura says. Jane makes an angry grumbling sound, ‘and I told them I didn’t have enough data to extrapolate a conclusion for them. They gave me some additional parameters and then I…’ Maura blushes. She’d created an experiment to kiss her best friend. That was the long and short of it. ‘I apologise,’ Maura whispers softly, ‘I should not have…’ Maura goes to pull away but Jane’s arms hold her fast.

Jane shakes her head, ‘you’re good Maura. It’s okay. Did you find the answer to your experiment?’

‘Obviously, my data is inconclusive. My sample size is still extremely limited,’ Maura replies as Jane’s face inches closer to her own.

‘Take a guess then,’ Jane whispers, her voice husky and rough.

‘I do not guess,’ Maura whispers her hands twisting themselves in Jane’s clothes. 

'No one is going to hold you to it,' Jane says with a smirk, their lips almost touching.

Maura lets out a small whimper. 'You,' Maura pants, ‘definitely you.’

‘You sure about that?’ Jane asks her face close enough that Maura can feel the heat of her breath across her own lips.

‘I am open to…’ Maura says with another small pant, ‘further expirimentation. For science.’

‘For science,’ Jane affirms before closing the space between them entirely.

Maura never does get back to Tommy and Frankie but they could probably draw their own conclusions about the best Rizzoli kisser when Maura and Jane get married a year to the day that they had first kissed for science.


End file.
